Cornwall Marine Conference

The second ever Cornwall Marine Conference is returning to Falmouth’s Maritime Museum on the evening of Thursday November 8, and organisers are delighted to announce that this year’s event has been backed by British Marine, the marine industry’s governing body.

With marine businesses from across the county being encouraged to attend for an evening of networking, entertainment and informative talks from some of the industry’s most informative and engaging characters, this year’s event looks set to be bigger and better than ever.

This year’s conference is focussed on the future of the marine industry, and will cover futuristic ideas surrounding yacht design, hybrid energy and the future of Cornwall’s ports, to name just a few of the topics covered over the course of the evening.

This year we are proud to welcome four well-respected speakers from the industry: international acclaimed yacht designer Nigel Irens (who designed Ellen Macathur’s record-breaking trimaran, B&Q Castorama), Henk Wiekens, one of the driving forces behind the success of Pendennis Shipyard, Ken Wittamore, of Triskel Marine and Cornwall’s Maritime Manager Andy Brigden.

The Conference was founded in 2017 as a joint venture between Fastnet Marketing, Stephens Scown and PFK Francis Clark. As businesses offering professional services in the sector, all three companies were conscious of the lack of organised events in Cornwall for the marine organisations and wanted to create a friendly, fun yet informative forum for the maritime sector to come together, network and exchange some of the wide breadth of knowledge demonstrated across the sector.

Sarah Leverton, Managing Director of Fastnet Marketing, originally came up with the concept. She said, “I’d really noticed that Cornwall was lacking in networking events for the marine sector. The marine industry contributes significantly to Cornwall’s economy, and I can think of a great number of Cornish businesses that are seen as leaders on a competitive global stage. But, in terms of getting everyone together and sharing ideas, Cornwall seemed to be lagging behind.

“We then had conversations with PKF Francis Clark accountants and Stephens Scown solicitors. We all agreed that, as well as offering professional services to this sector, we could also use our connections and insights into the industry to help bring everyone together, share ideas and best practice and, ultimately, have a fun evening with like-minded people. And so the Cornwall Marine Conference was born.”

Whilst the event has previously been invite only, this year organisers are opening the doors to anyone who is either working in, or interested in, the marine sector. However, ticket numbers are very limited, and so anyone interested in attending is encouraged to book soon to avoid disappointment.

“As this is only our second year running, we’re keeping the event relatively small. But now we’ve opened the event up for everyone to attend, we’re interested to see how much interest we get. If demand is high enough then we’ll certainly look at opting for a larger venue next year,” says Sarah Leverton.

“If you visit boat shows and marine events across Europe, and indeed around the world, you will always find innovative Cornish marine businesses. We should be proud of the talent we have in this sector, and I see the Cornwall Marine Conference as a way to both celebrate this and further encourage innovation and success.”

Tickets are available at www.cornwallmarineconference.co.uk at a cost of £35 plus booking fees. This includes access to all 4 keynote talks, networking opportunities, wine and refreshments throughout the evening and a free pasty